Immune regulation at the CNS barriers and in the CNS: role of immune cell trafficking (B01)

• Subject Area: Clinical Neurology; Neurosurgery and Neuroradiology
• Term: from 2012 to 2024
• Project identifier: Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG) - Project number 213904703

Infiltration of immune cells into the CNS is one major hallmark of MS pathology. After elucidating immune signatures for different routes into the CNS in the first two funding periods, we will 1) investigate the relationship between therapeutic integrin engagement and selectin expression for lymphocyte surveillance function with implications for virus control, 2) analyze the antigen specificity of MCAM+ and CCR5high CNS-infiltrating T cells to decipher their exact roles in CNS immune surveillance versus inflammation, and 3) transfer the generated molecular and cellular concepts of adaptive CNS immunity to the coagulation system and analyze the contribution of leukocyte-platelet aggregates to adaptive CNS immunity in the context of MS.

• DFG Programme: CRC/Transregios
• Subproject of: TRR 128: Initiating/Effector versus Regulatory Mechanisms in Multiple Sclerosis - Progress towards Tackling the Disease
• Applicant Institution: Universität Münster
• Project Heads: Professor Nicholas Schwab, Ph.D.; Professor Dr. Alexander Zarbock